What is the difference between synology ds211 and ds211j

Two screws fasten down one-half of the plastic outer case, which then slides apart to reveal the drive bays and logic board. Power is courtesy of an external laptop-style charger. Fit and finish is to a very high standard, with a high-quality cooling fan fitted at the rear that remained essentially inaudible during our tests.

With one or two disks first secured inside, after powering up the unit you must next install the operating system. This is provided on a CD in the box, or you can download the latest version from the Synology site directly. The current version in February is DSM 3. Before configuring the drive to your particular requirements, you must find it on your network. After logging on to the Synology DS NAS, you find an interface that closely resembles a complete desktop operating system.

More particularly, somewhat like a Gnome Linux desktop with its cuddly desktop icons and translucent drop-down top menu. Here you will find 29 different control areas split into four lines. Security is taken seriously as warrants a sophisticated storage centre. There are assets such as Auto Block, which can enhance security by banning connections from IP addresses that have failed authentication too many times.

And remote access Telnet and SSH services are off by default, a welcome sign. Performance of the Synology DS was very good, especially considering the modest environmental impact the unit makes. Inside is a Marvell ARM processor, clocked at 1.

These are high-performance rpm disks well-suited to RAID array operation. Write performance of the Synology DS was a little below the listed It's all very slick and works well. Its beauty isn't just skin deep. Creating user accounts was especially easy. A single tabbed window allows you to create an account, set a storage usage quota, give access to certain shared folders and even decide which of the DSj's extra features it can use.

You can even email the user their account details. File copying performance isn't quite as impressive as Synology's models without the 'j' suffix. This is mainly down to the slightly slower 1. We saw very little difference in speed between RAID 0 and 1, so your choice is between capacity and security. The DSj gains ground back with its impressive array of extra features. Inside the box we find the Synology DiskStation DSj carefully sandwiched between two foam protective inserts. Next to the NAS are a cardboard box containing the power cord, AC adapter, Cat 5e network cable, installation CD, instruction booklet and assembling kit.

The DiskStation can be purchased with hard drives preinstalled or just the device by itself. Synology sent us the version with two 1 terabyte hard drives preinstalled. However since we had a couple of 2 TB drives laying around we decided to upgrade the storage capacity. The max storage capacity for this model is 4 TB 2 x 2TB. The casing is primarily composed of white plastic with a strip of grey on the front panel. There is also a front USB input port that is handy for attaching USB thumb drives you wish to back up or transfer data to or from.

The model name is listed below the power button. In the center is a label indicating the product model number and which way to open and close the unit. For those placing the Synology DiskStation DSj in public places where theft is a concern a Kensington lock port is included on the back as well.

Opening the Synology DiskStation DSj involves removing the two screws on the back of the device and then sliding the left side cover off of the unit. The inside of the DS looks pretty similar to its predecessors as the primary upgrades in the unit involve the CPU and memory capacity. The two included hard drives are SATA and are easily removed by unscrewing the four holding screws on each side of the hard drive rack.

There is a nice sized gap to separate the two drives for improved air circulation. Behind this SATA card is the fan to keep the device cool. The included drives with the bundle are two Seagate Once the hard drives are installed simply slide the cover back onto the unit and tighten the screws on the back. The operating system, Synology DiskStation Manager, delivers rich features for multimedia enjoyments, worry-free backup, Internet sharing, and energy-saving options.

The eMule download engine allows search-n-download capability with a web-browser without installing additional desktop applications. Audio Station supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with the optional speakers. An optional direction-free Synology Remote allows you to freely enjoy your music.